If you are a first time rider or a minor then you should be required to take a snowmobile safety course! These courses familiarize the person on the components of a snowmobile, operating system and depending on the course they let you ride a machine to become generally familiar with the way they handle!
Here in Saskatchewan it is mandatory that children 12 - 16 take the course if they are to be riding a machine by themselves. After 16, a valid drivers license is required. I quess after the youth turns 16 it is up to the parents to enforce the safety course on the youth. To me , it should be mandatory for all first timers and youth to have to take a snowmobile course. All youth and first time hunters have to take a mandatory safety course before they can hunt! You can kill someone with a sled as fast as you can kill them wuth a gun if you are unknowledgable and don't know what you are doing.
We rode with a guy this year that brought his 13 year old boy with him and put him on a 600cc polaris. We'll this kid was all over the place and you never knew where he was gonna be. That was ridin stubbles, good thing we were not on the trail! We asked him if he had taken the course and the answer was NO... His dad said it was a waste of time, He did,nt need it. I also seen his dad run smack into the rear end of another guy and flip his machine due to the fact he was riding to fast and not payin attention! He was an excellant role model for his kid!That was on the same day!
The mandatory boating course makes no sense to me. We in Saskatchewan have to take a coast guard approved test! Half the test was on boating in the ocean. I don't know about you but I haven't seen an ocean near Sask, since I have been here. I think the reasoning behind the 14ft rule is aimed towards the personal watercraft! Too many kids riding alone with no supervision! That is just asking for trouble!
